"Have you seen Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin? Doesn't look very menacing does he? Christopher Nolan will revisit the character so I wouldn't go by that at all," said Hardy in reference to a still of Jeep Swenson as Bane.

He added, "I'm going to need to bulk up a lot for it. That's a lot of weight to put on and I've got to start shooting in May. I've got to go up to about 13 or 14 stone. I'm 12 and a bit now, so I only have a few months to do that."

Hardy was coy when asked about wearing Bane's "gimp mask" in the film. He said somewhat tongue-in-cheek, "Only if I feel like it." You can watch the video for yourself below: